I'm a foreign student and I have got both offers from Monash and Nottingham University in Malaysia. But I don't which one to choose. I currently live in Subang, and Monash would be suitable for me but I heard Nottingham is better than Monash. I'm so confused. Can you guys like give me some advices ? like the pros and cons of each university, including the environment and all other things ? I've been to semenyih before. I don't mind living in a remote area but I do mind about the crime rate. I've been living in Malaysia and I got robbed twice, definitely not good experiences to remember. I know there's a lot of similiar threads here but It didnt help me much.

From all the information I have gathered,
I can conclude this . (correct me guys if I'm wrong )

MONASH UNIVERSITY :

PROS

Located in city, everything is close
Small campus, get to know everyone
It's one of the best (G8)
It's accredited by Malaysian board (not sure about this)
It's closer to my current residence (although i can move)

CONS

Lots of distractions to study
High cost of living
One year longer than UNott

UNOTT

PROS
Better than monash (well lots of my friends say so, not sure about this..)
Low cost of living
nice environment
Will take me away from clubs , malls, everything that distracts me
same duration will get me MEng while in Monash ill get BEng (not sure about this..)
Large, awesome campus

CONS
Located in a really, really remote area
I heard the 3 years duration course is not accredited ?
It's far from my current residence. ( I gotta adapt, move my things, etc )



Help me guys, I have 2 weeks left to decide. Basically I'm more like a city person, but I don't know whether ill be okay living in a remote area. but nottingham looks cooler than monash.

Help me.
Thank you. So Much.

I would think that at the end, there is little differences between the courses, since they are both from schools here and not in their respective original countries, so the deciding factor should be the environment, school, and cost. You should visit and see which you prefer, because you'd spend 3 or 4 years there.

Monash has - I think - a higher ranking overall internationally, but I would choose Nottingham if I were you simply because of its name. Be advised, Nottingham is not intrinsically reputed for engineering in particular, but both Monash and Nottingham have a range of subjects available anyway.

I agree. but does not Monash has good reputation , too ? so if "Nottingham is not intrinsically reputed for engineering in particular" why would you choose Nottingham over Monash other than its name ?

But I gotta say, Monash is kinda overrated. Its requirement is low yet it's so demanding. I find it strange.

An engineering degree would be rather demanding at any respectable institution.

Yes, Monash has a good reputation, and a good ranking internationally, but this reflects mainly on the Australian campus. Besides, it is nothing compared to some of the other Australian schools over there.

That's kind of why in Malaysia, Nottingham and Monash are very comparable. Choose whichever is convenient, or whichever you enjoy the most. Ranking and prestige are quite balanced. Maybe ask some students (of Eng) to gauge how good the teachers are.

For me personally, I did not find out much about the Aussie system (3 yrs + 1 Hons yr). UK 3 yrs BEng + 1 yr integrated MEng makes sense to me though.

Nottingham is considered okay in the UK, it's not top tier (Oxbridge, UCL, Warwick) but it's close for certain subjects. Engineering, however, is not its 'main attraction', so to speak.

For Aussie unis and in the case of Engineering, they are always a 4 year BEng no 3 years. It doesn't work like business etc. in which you do 3 years then if your really good your invited for an extra year for Honours. Any degree in Aussie that is in nature 4 years or longer like a BEng,LLB,MBBS,BPharm etc. automatically comes with Honours if you get a certain amount of weighted average marks (WAM) at the end of the course, no extra year of research for Honours required.

@adhitomax
You also must know that if you aspire to become a Professional Engineer in the future. Countries that are in the Washington Accord only accredit Degrees that are 4 years of length. In which case you are looking at Monash's BEng or Nottingham MEng. Nottingham's 3 year BEng (Hons) is not accredited and if you want to become a professional engineer the road ahead will be a bit more bumpy though you won't have a problem finding a job as an Engineer with it.

This post has been edited by Hikari0307: Dec 3 2010, 03:13 AM

The courses will be different too in terms of overall content. Although it's conducted here and not in their original countries, the core courses are very similar to the home campus (at least for Nottingham, didn't check out Monash), if not identical. Usually main differences would be in the availability of optional modules. So yes it has to be taken into account during the decision process too.

And since TS mentioned that many of his friends say that Nottingham is better, maybe Nottingham has a much better perceived reputation back in his country? That could lead to advantages during entry-level jobs. TS you'll have to check with some working professionals in your country about their perception, not only students.

I just took A Level course in Taylor's, and I can tell you , 10 points is low.
But I totally agree with all other points you explained to me.
But now I'm wondering, what's the Nottingham's 'main attraction' ?


Wow, I was totally in doubt about the 4-year course in Nottingham will get me a MEng, but now I think it's true. But does that mean that the course will be tougher?


Thanks for you suggestions @hikari0307. Your explanation broadens my mind



Are you sure about the core courses in Nottingham are similar to the home campus ?
BTW, I have seen the choices of optional modules and I think it's fine; They have subjects I am planning to pursue.

Well, I'm from Indonesia. Engineer is a very, very demanding job here. Indonesia also has some prestigious universities but I somehow feel I already settled in Malaysia. The environment, culture, anything about Malaysia, altough it's quite similar. Besides, Indonesian Universities does not accept my qualification so basically, I am unable to study here.

Thank you @entryman

Well the name of the modules are the same. But there might be slight differences within the actual delivered content. But overall, it would be compatible, as students are able to either go onboard an exchange programme to China or Nottingham, or even apply for a transfer to Nottingham (for China I'm not sure). This holds true for those who plan to come from China or Nottingham to Malaysia too.

What I perceive might be the difference would be the experience you get from the facilities, as well as lecturers, which some might attribute to being inferior to the UK based home campus, though that open its up to a whole new argument. As for your questions regarding Nottingham, you can post it in the Nottingham thread in this forum, there are a few active forumers there from the Engineering division, and they're very helpful.

And to 2nd part of your post above, what I meant was, perhaps Nottingham has a much better "name" and "prestige" that comes with it among Indonesians if compared to Monash. I'm not sure about that, you'll have to ask your parents or those already working for at least 4 years (doesn't necessarily need to be Engineering field, can be any other field), instead of merely students. And also perhaps in your case, enquire among wealthy people who possess corporate exposure. The benefits from having this extra "prestige" is quite easily comprehensible for you I believe and I don't need to elaborate further on that here.

This post has been edited by entryman: Dec 3 2010, 08:47 PM

For Monash Electrical engineering, every unit in the Sunway Campus identical to that in the Australian campus.

You are correct that electives are limited here, but there are some electives which are only available at Sunway campus as there isn't any expertise/demand in Australian side.

Hi all, allow me to tumpang thread to ask something

I want to ask, seeing that Nottingham is a branch of university in England, then would they prefer A-level as their entry requirements? I believe there is some who gain entry at Nottingham with a qualification of SAM, but would it be hard to keep up with the syllabus (engineering), seeing that Nottingham only offer a very compact 3 year course (not including MEng, that is an extra bonus) which is very different from the 4 year Monash system?

Would SAM students be at a disadvantage compared to A-level students who learned much more during their Pre-U? I am hoping to get either first class or second class honour and I definitely don't want my first year of university life to be extremely hectic to learn all the extra syllabus in A-level.

Personally I love the remote area of the Nottingham campus but if what I said above is somewhat true then maybe I will consider Monash. Someone enlighten me please?

This post has been edited by zeeyang: Dec 3 2010, 09:53 PM

This, have to wait for zstan (Monash) and tanjinjack (Nottingham) to reply.
Both have gone through this decision making process.
Try posting this in the Nottingham thread too.

@zeeyang, you should realise that an A levels student would study maths, physics, other subjects, possibly further maths, while an engineering student will study many mathematical subjects with physics and distinctly engineering subjects. There is not all that much that is studied in A level that would be used in engineering. The main parts would be pure maths, algebra, calculus, vectors, mechanics, further pure maths, further mechanics, statistics, probability, further statistics, and some (not many) topics of physics.

I don't think A levels prepares you by teaching you some of the subject matter/providing foundation as such. Rather, it is academically rigorous, and does teach some basics which all maths/physics/engineering and other undergrads should know (for example, if a student couldn't get A in A level maths then they should reconsider ever taking engineering).

Okay. In short, yes, you are in an disadvantage. You don't learn moment (torque) and you don't learn a lot of Maths (unless you took Spec Math).
If you were to come in with a SAM with Spec Math, you'll actually be re-learning everything for the 1st year, but the engineering content could be hard.
If you were to come in with a SAM without Spec Math, you will be facing difficulties in both the core content and Maths as well.
And yes, you are likely to be busy, a lot more committed in your studies, for let say your 1st semester? Perhaps on your 2nd semester, there will still be one or two subjects where you are handicapped, but you are used to it already btw.

No course is easy. So just take it and do it. If you think you are a material for 1st class, then difficulty does not matter to you at all. Take the time of complaining it being hard to improve your studies is a lot more better. BTW, Nottingham's first class is not easy to get, although you might think 70% average could not be too hard.

And no, you won't love the remote area of Nottingham. It's so remote in a way that if you have no transport, or you don't make friends who have transports, it has no difference whether you live in Nottingham Malaysia or a jail. You just don't get a choice when it comes to eating.

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Added on December 4, 2010, 1:27 amWill be glad to clarify that the course structure of Mechanical Engineering in Nottingham Malaysia is identical to their UK sister, except for elective modules which depends on demands and resource availability.

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Added on December 4, 2010, 1:32 amYes, 3 years is not accredited. But for the record of Nottingham Malaysia, in Mechanical, international students just do not care to do the 4th year. So, ultimately, whether you think it's important or not it's about your jobbing opportunity of the location you prefer. If Malaysia is in your consideration, then be assured that, as long as you are excellent, it does not matter if you are accredited or not, you could still land a job. If accreditation does not matter, then Nottingham will be on the edge where you could just graduate in 3 years, saving the education cost of 1 year.

Yes, in 4 years time, you get a BEng from Monash, but MEng from Nottingham. And that does mean you learn one year of extra stuff in Nottingham.

And no, living in Nottingham is not cheap. A meal could easily go up to RM5 and are likely to settle around RM6-7 - certainly not the price of a remote area. But well, without transports, you got no place to go. Nearest movie, karaoke are about 30 minutes away and clubs are even further. So, you are likely to reduce your expenditure of entertainment in Nottingham.

And no, I don't know whether Nottingham or Monash is better. I did compare before and pick Nottingham and I am sure there are people who pick the latter. So, it's up to you to decide. I chose Nottingham over its flexibility, the potential of finishing up in 3 years and pursue a more specialised Master at other places, or a straight-forward 4 years, or a 3 years and jump to PhD. I have more options here.

This post has been edited by tanjinjack: Dec 4 2010, 01:35 AM

I think I have sufficient funds for my studies for the next 4 years, so costs do not bother me much. I do agree with you, but if I could get MEng in 4 years, why not ? I've talked to some professors which happen to be my mom's colleagues and they said accreditation may not matter in Indonesia, but it will give me advantages in job market here.

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Added on December 6, 2010, 12:04 amI do agree with you. Thanks for your advice, I already talked to some people.

This post has been edited by adhitomax: Dec 6 2010, 12:04 AM